The sound of Music Filming Location

The sound of Music Filming Location: The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical drama film which is produced and directed by Robert Wise. The movie stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, with Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr, and Eleanor Parker. 

This movie is a conversion of the 1959 stage musical having the same name, composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The movie was written by Ernest Lehman and based on the 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp.

The movie follows a young Austrian beginner in Salzburg, Austria, in 1938 who is sent to the villa of a former naval officer and widower to be a governess to his 7 children. After conducting love and music into the lives of the family, she marries the officer and, together with the children, finds a way to pull through the loss of their homeland to the Nazis.

The sound of Music Filming Location: Where Was The Sound of Music Filmed?

Film Name	The Sound of Music
Filming Locations	Austria, Germany, USA
Filming Dates	March to September 1964
Release Date	2 March 1965

The Sound of Music Filming Locations

The Sound of Music was filmed in multiple locations in Salzburg, Austria, Germany, and the United States which are given below.

The original theatrical release of the film in America after almost 4 and a half years. The Sound of Music completed its opening 4 -and-a-half year theatrical release run in the US on Labor Day 1969.

Salzburg, Austria

The Sound of Music was shooted at various locations in and around Salzburg, Austria which includes Leopoldskron Palace, Frohnburg Palace, the Mirabell Palace Gardens, and the old town of Salzburg which is the basilica in Mondsee. 

Mirabell Palace & Mirabell Garden

Its typical, large, aligned flower beds make this garden a good example of a typical Baroque park. Mirabell Garden was built in the 18th century after the scheme of the famous architect Fischer von Erlach. 

Countless statues stimulated by Greek myths can be seen all over the park which is put out around a big fountain. In the movie Maria and the children dance around the fountain singing Do-Re-Mi.

Nonnberg Abbey

Nonnberg Abbey is the oldest priory for women north of the Alps. It has been in frequent existence since it was founded in the year 714 A.D. The Abbey was destroyed by fire at various times however it was always rebuilt by the rulers of the city and the church.

The Abbey is remarkable both for the real Trapp story as well as for the film. After graduating from college, Maria Augusta von Kutschera took a train to Salzburg to present herself as a candidate for the probation of the Benedictine Sisterhood. 

The Sound of Music scenes shot includes the opening scene where the nuns go to mass and Maria returns too late and the performance for the song name Maria was put on in the courtyard of the Abbey. The children came to Abbey’s gate to ask Maria to return to their home. The escape scene along with the cars parked outside the Abbey gate was also filmed in the original spot.

Summer Riding School

For the construction of the Salzburg Cathedral, boulders were cut out from the Mönchsberg. In 1693, Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun decided to use this cavity in the mountain and had the Summer Riding School built into it, where tournaments were held. Today this building is a theater and one of the venues of the Festival District. The “real” Trapp family sang here at a choir competition. In the motion picture, Christopher Plummer sang “Edelweiss” while their escape was organized behind the curtain.

The Horse Pond next to the Festival Building is another sight a lot of people associate with The Sound of Music. It was built in 1695 by Austrian architect Fischer von Erlach.

Salzburg Residence

The Residence Square is the heart of the old city center. In the film, Maria crossed this square singing “I have confidence” while on her way to the Trapp family home for the first time.

Residence Fountain

The Residence Fountain is 15 meters high and the largest baroque fountain outside of Italy. It was built between 1658 and 1661, possibly by Italian artist Tommaso di Garona, and is made of marble from the Untersberg, a mountain near Salzburg. Its water-spouting horses reached world fame thanks to their appearance in the movie. Maria stopped at the fountain to splash water at the horses while singing “I have confidence”.

St. Peter’s District

St. Peter’s District is the oldest part of Salzburg. The first monks, headed by Saint Rupert, settled here. The rest of the city started to spread out slowly around the monastery. St. Peter’s cemetery is the oldest one in Austria still in use. Only priests and monks were buried here until the year 1454. The arcades around the cemetery are family vaults from the 17th century with various examples of wrought iron work.

Obviously, St. Peter’s Cemetery was a good inspiration for the movie makers: It was rebuilt in the Hollywood studios for the scene when the Nazis were searching for the von Trapps and the family was hiding behind the tombstones. St. Peter’s Church can also be seen in the opening scene.

Frohnburg Palace

The Baroque Frohnburg Palace was built in the 17th century as a country house for the Prince Archbishops. Its front, courtyard, and the front gate were used for the Trapp Villa in the movie.

Maria arrived here, after dancing along Hellbrunn Alley, just to meet the von Trapps for the first time and the baron tore the flag down from above the castle’s doorway when they came back from their honeymoon and heard about the German occupation of Austria. They shoved their car softly out of the castle’s gate when they tried to get away.

Hohenwerfen Fortress

A motorway escort to the little village of Werfen which is located about 40 kilometers south of downtown Salzburg. The fortress was built under the rule of Archbishop Gebhardt von Helfenstein in 1077 to save and defend the pass ruling into the Salzburg basin. 

Werfen is also the gateway for a trip to the famous Giant Ice Caves. A guide takes you into the spectacular cave system which is said to be the biggest in the world. The Hohenwerfen Fortress gives Julie Andrews and the children an ideal background for Do-Re-Mi. (External Link: IMDb)